Tumelo Setshogo
6 September 2007
Gaborone — President Festus Mogae has said that Botswana is discussing the possibility of hosting the controversial U.S. African Command (US-AFRICOM).
Mogae said on Tuesday that Botswana and South Africa have been approached by the U.S. to host the command but they have not taken a decision. "We were approached together with South Africa on the possibilities of housing this animal. We don't know what it would look like," Mogae said on Tuesday at the University of Botswana (UB) when speaking on 'The Role of Natural Resources in Botswana's Socio-Economic Development'.
"We have not taken a position because we don't know how the animal looks like. We are still discussing the issue," he added. He said after the approach, the Americans have not came back to explain more about AFRICOM. "So we are still waiting," he stated.
Mogae said the American government is not clear whether it would build the command in Botswana or South Africa. "We will get a clear position when the issue is discussed further," he said. Mogae was speaking after the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) deputy president, Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang asked him to clarify to the nation his government's position on the U.S-AFRICOM.
The command is currently based in Stuttgart, Germany. It is meant to shift to Africa to give more effective support to U.S. security operations in the continent but it has met strong opposition from African politicians and civil society. In Botswana, civil society and the political opposition have been pressuring the government to come clean on the issue. The main opposition, Botswana National Front (BNF) held a demonstration against the idea last month and submitted a petition to the Office of the President. The civil society and opposition parties fear that Botswana might accept the proposal.
The AFRICOM is meant to be fully operation in Africa by 2008. It is meant to be a distributed command and a network across several rather than a single headquarter.
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